Diarrhea is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day (World Health Organization). It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolyte disturbances such as potassium deficiency or other salt imbalances. In 2009 diarrhea was estimated to have caused 1.1 million deaths in people aged 5 and over and 1.5 million deaths in children under the age of 5. Oral rehydration solutions (ORS) with modest amounts of salts and zinc tablets are the treatment of choice and have been estimated to have saved 50 million children in the past 25 years. (WHO). Osmotic diarrhea means that something in the bowel is drawing water from the body into the bowel. A common example of this is “dietetic candy” or “chewing gum” diarrhea, in which a sugar substitute, such as sorbitol, is not absorbed by the body but draws water from the body into the bowel, resulting in diarrhea. Secretory diarrhea occurs when the body is releasing water into the bowel when it's not supposed to. Many infections, drugs, and other conditions cause secretory diarrhea. Exudative diarrhea refers to the presence of blood and pus in the stool. This occurs with inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, and several infections. The most common cause of diarrhea is a virus that infects the gut. The infection usually lasts for two days and is sometimes called “intestinal flu” or “stomach flu.” Diarrhea may also be caused by:
Infection by bacteria (the cause of most types of food poisoning), infections by other organisms, eating foods that upset the digestive system, allergies to certain food, medications, radiation therapy, diseases of the intestines (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis), malabsorption (where the body is unable to adequately absorb certain nutrients from the diet), hyperthyroidism, some cancers, laxative abuse, alcohol abuse, digestive tract surgery, diabetes
Recently, the World Health Organization estimated that 80% of the people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some part of their primary health care. In Germany, about 600-700 plant based medicines are available and are prescribed by some 70% of German physicians. In the past 20 years in the United States, public dissatisfaction with the cost of prescription medications, combined with an interest in returning to natural or organic remedies, has led to an increase in herbal medicine use. Millions of Indians also use herbal drugs regularly, as spices, home-remedies, health foods as well as over-the-counter (OTC) as self-medication or also as drugs prescribed in the non-allopathic systems (Gautam V., Raman R. M. V., Ashish K. Exporting Indian healthcare (Export potential of Ayurveda and Siddha products and services). Road Beyond Boundaries (The Case of Selected Indian Healthcare Systems) Export-Import Bank of India; Mumbai: 2003. pp. 14-54). Herbal based drugs are known to have no adverse effects and cure the diseases in a holistic manner. They treat the cause and not merely the symptoms of disease as they have many active constituents which act in synergy. Under the present scenario the development of a herbal based composition for effective cure of gastrointestinal diseases is required.
Terminalia bellerica (Roxb):Family: Combretaceae
Botanical description and phytoconstituents: T. bellerica also referred to as, Beleric Myrobalan in English, Bibhitaki in Sanskrit, locally known as Bahera in India, has been used for centuries in the Ayurveda, a holistic system of medicine originating from India. It is a large deciduous tree found throughout India, in areas up to an altitude of 1,000 meters. The tree takes a height of 30 meters, while the bark is brownish grey in color. The alternate, broadly elliptic leaves are clustered towards the end of the branches. They are 10 to 12 cm in length and 7 to 14 cm in breadth. The simple, solitary flowers are in auxiliary spikes, with offensive odor. They blossom in the month of May. The fruits are ovoid grey drupes and the kernels are sweet. The tree is found in abundance in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra. The dried fruit is used for medicinal purposes (Indian Herbal Pharmacopoeia, 2002). It is found growing wild throughout the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, and SE Asia, upto 1200 meters in elevation, in a wide variety of ecologies. (Nadkami K M, 2002, Indian Meteria Medica, Published by Ramdas Bhatkal for Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai 01: 1202-1205) Glucoside bellericanin (The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, 2001) gallo-tannic acid, coloring matter, resins and a greenish yellow oil have been isolated from the T. bellerica (Nadkarni K M (2002). Indian Meteria Medica, Published by Ramdas Bhatkal for Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai 01: 1202-1205). Ellagic acid, gallic acid, lignans (termilignan and tanni lignan), 7-hydroxy 3′4′ 10 (methylene dioxy) flavone and anolignan B are also reported in T. bellerica fruits and bark (The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, 2001). Tannins, ellagic acid, ethyl gallate, galloyl glucose and chebulaginic acid, phenyllemblin, β-sitosterol, mannitol, glucose, fructose and rhamnose are reported from different parts of the tree (Indian Herbal Pharmacopoeia, 2002; The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, 2001).
Medicinal properties: Anthelminthic, antiseptic, astringent, expectorant, laxative, lithotriptic, rejuvenative and tonic. The fruit is one among the triphala formula of ayurveda and is commonly prescribed in treating asthma and biliousness.
Some Indian patents granted, containing Terminalia bellerica are, Patent No. 243944, which relates to a novel herbal medicinal composition useful for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; another patent no 241754, which is a composition for the treatment of hemorrhoid.
Malonic acid: Malonic acid (IUPAC systematic name: propanedioic acid) is a dicarboxylic acid with structure CH2(COOH)2. It is used in the preparation of barbiturates. Malonate nitroxide methanofullerene a derivative of malonic acid enhances the antitumor activity of cyclophosphamide (CPA), which is an anticancer drug (Valentina P. Gubskaya, Lucia Sh. Berezhnaya, Aidar T. Gubaidullin, Irina I. Faingold, Raisa A. Kotelnikova, Nina P. Konovalova, Vladimir I. Morozov, Igor A. Litvinov and Ildus A. Nuretdinov. Synthesis, structure and biological activity of nitroxide malonate methanofullerenes. Org. Biomol. Chem., 2007, 5, 976-981). It occurs naturally in biological systems, such as legumes and developing rat brains, which indicates that it may play an important role in symbiotic nitrogen metabolism and brain development. It is found in fairly substantial amount in almost eighteen species of leguminous plants (Hubert Bradford Vickery and James K. Palmer. The metabolism of the organic acids of tobacco leaves :XII. Effect of culture of excised leaves on solutions of malonate at pH 4 to pH 7. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 1957, 225:629-640).
Glutamic acid:Glutamic acid (abbreviated asGlu or E) is one of the 20-22 proteinogenic amino acids. It is a non-essential amino acid. Glutamic Acid is an excitatory neurotransmitter for the central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord; important in the metabolism of sugars and fats. It aids in the transportation of potassium into the spinal fluid. Glutamic Acid acts as fuel for the brain. It has been used to help correct personality disorders, in the treatment of epilepsy, mental retardation and muscular dystrophy.
Eicosenoic acid: Eicosenoic acid is also known as gondoic acid. Gondoic acid is reported as one of the fatty acids in breast milk, which contributes to its immuno modulating properties (Villamor Eduardo, Koulinska Irene N, Furtado Jeremy, Baylin Ana, Aboud Said, Manji Karim, Campos Hannia and Fawzi Wafaie W (2007). Long-chain n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in breast milk decrease the risk of HIV transmission through breastfeeding. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 86: 682-289). Anti oxidant property of 11—eicosenoic acid was reported by Henry et al (Henry Geneive E, Momin Rafikali A, Nair Muraleedharan G and Dewitt David. Antioxidant and cyclooxygenase activities of fatty acids found in food. J. Agric. Food Chem. 50: 2231-22232002). Eicosenoic is a common phytoconstituent of coconut, Eruca sativa, Flax oil, Blueperum lanctifolim etc.
Linolenic acid: Linolenic acid is reported to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity. It is a polyunsaturated fatty acid used in the biosynthesis of arachidonic acid (AA) and thus some prostaglandins. It is found in the lipids of cell membranes. Linolenic acid is abundant in many vegetable oils.